Sony A77 Reports of Buggy Firmware and Dead Cameras

[gimp69]

What is Sony doing about the reports from the Far East about the high failure rate of Sony A77s?  The A77 has only just been delivered to the UK and there are already two dead A77s I know of, both from Jessops.

There appears to be something really broken in the A77 firmware or a bad batch of A77s has been produced.

It's bad enough that the A77 high ISO isn't as good as a two year old Nikon D7000 and now we have reports of buggy firmware and cameras literally dying and being sent back.

I am glad that I didn't pre-order.  SORT THIS OUT.

[gimp69]

Sony,  PUT 1.03 ON YOUR WEBSITE FOR DOWNLOAD.

It is already being shipped on cameras in the Far East.  It is being shipped on cameras in Canada.  At least allow current owners to put it on their faulty A77s!

Are you just stupid or somethng?

[quayley]

Just to confirm I too have a dead-ish A77. After happily taking pictures for a few days the camera refused to work, and all the "battery in and out" and factory reset recommendations didn't matter a jot. You can see photo menus but not alter them, cannot see playback menus at all and camera will not focus or take pictures. An additional problem is that trying factory reset will drain a 'full' battery to zero before camera reboots.

For those of you who have this problem who wish to (temporarily?) get the camera working again, see the youtube thread. My camera was revived by:

1. With camera off, simultaneously press MENU + MOVIE + > (Play).

2. Release buttons.

3. Switch camera on whilst holding same buttons, and hold for 5+ seconds. Camera should be back to "normal"

Firmware I have is 1.02. The Sony announcement of what the firmware upgrade 1.03 (see link above) contains is a little bit underwhelming, adressing certain specific issues and winding up with "Other functional improvements". Does anyone know if fixing the "dead" problem is one such improvement? Clearly it's going to be a major confidence issue, and many people will  be rushing to send cameras back (to Jessops in my case) unless we know soon that 1.03 will cure it.

[ansherr38]

Wish I had read this before I sent mine back to Jessops. I asked for a replacement but as I bought the only a77 in the shop (it was on display), I had to send it for repair. Lucky I had just bought a warrenty!

It had took only 500 photos and some short vids. When I loaded the photos and changed the battery the camera went *6*%&"!

[gimp69]

1.03 is what is on cameras shipping now in the Far East and Canada.  I haven't heard any problems with 1.03...yet.

Quite why Sony haven't put 1.03 on their site for download remains a mystery.  Of course it might be that the firmware coming in a couple of weeks is higher than 1.03, but at least put 1.03 on the site for now rather than have A77s being bricked and sent back for "repair".

Sony don't appear to appreciate the damage to the A77s reputation this is having, then they wonder why people choose a "safe" brand like Canon and Nikon.

[gimp69]

A77 1.03 has been released:

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/474591